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Saturday, March 17, 2012

The blog post I didn't want to have to write

I'm NOT running Boston. Yes, again. I made the decision to pull out and give my body time to heal without the time pressure of a race...especially a marathon. I got in some short runs last week after two weeks off of running and I knew there was no way I could ask this hip to run a marathon without significant risks.

My hip issues that started a few weeks back are most likely due to "dead butt syndrome" (gluteus medius tendonitis) in which my gluteus medius is not firing properly and the other structures have had to pick up the slack. This may have been brewing all year, dating back to the drop foot, on the same side, from a year ago.

Given all my strength training and cross training it surprised me to think I could have this, and if three separate people (two docs and a rolfer) hadn't told me this independently, I wouldn't have believed it. There is still much I don't understand, and I'm not sure what they are feeling that I don't. It's off to PT to retrain the glute and neural pathways and I'm putting race plans on hold until such time as I know I am healthy and will be for a long time to come.

This was a very tough decision and my kids saw me go through frustration, disappointment and now regrouping and moving forward. As a parent, one of the gifts of triathlon is exactly this -- the kids see first-hand that we all face these challenging times and that it's OK to feel sad and mad but then it's important to move forward. I rebooked our Boston trip for Easter weekend and we will still go, enjoy the train ride, and our visits to Harvard and MIT (their future schools they have decided at ages 10 and 12).

These are the questions I asked myself when coming to this decision:

Do I think I can make it 26.2 miles on April 16? Yes, on stubbornness alone.

Is it worth all the worry and possible greater damage while things are vulnerable? No.

Would I be happy running a Boston Marathon with a time that was 15 minutes slower, 30 minutes slower, or an hour slower than what I know I can do? No.

Decision made. My Endurance Films Racing Teammate, Nick Logan doesn't know it yet, but his post on Knowing When to Fold gave me some much-needed perspective.

I'm putting all race plans on hold until I can run confidently and pain-free again. If this means my triathlon race season doesn't start until June or July, so be it. I've been training and racing with a high level of intensity for the last year, a bit of a breather could do me some good and lead to better later-season races which are my most important anyway. I have emerged from past injuries a bit tougher and more "hungry" and I know I tend to bounce back pretty fast.

Dude, my butt is in a coma too!! Up until a month ago I had no idea why I was having such strange hip pain, it took asking the right person(owner of my local Fleet Feet) he had me do this stand on one leg, faux runners pose, and boom! Sleeping glutes! I thought with all the squats and lunges I was doing I just had a crazy strong butt since it was rarely sore. Nope, I am just really hamstring and quad dominant....

I started really working on getting them to fire, and am actually seeing and FEELING results. Check out Bret Contreras, he has a great blog that really focuses on glute training. Good luck with it all! Next year you'll not only run Boston, you'll do it with a nice(er?) ass!

This and the linked post are excellent doses of reality. I'm sorry you have to make a choice but I agree with your logic. Making the right decisions now means that you will have a shot at a fantastic go in 2013!

Oh no Cortney! Sorry to hear you are not going to race it. Maybe if I actually get this qualification thing down I will see you there in 2013!!! It's great that you are able to prioritize your goals and realize it's not worth risking events later in the year.